“Puerto Ricans are Americans” Is Insulting Colonial Rhetoric
Our identity and our dignity do not depend on our citizenship or our relationship with the United States.
Pro-Trump comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s joke about Puerto Rico being an “island of garbage” is the latest in a long line of offenses to the island from MAGA Republicans. The worst of those crimes have been far more than rhetorical: the failed federal response to Hurricane María under Trump’s presidency surely contributed to the deaths of thousands of Puerto Ricans.
But many liberals and Democrats use their own insulting language when they rise up to defend Puerto Rico — or, at least, to try to score a few political points in an election cycle. In nearly every instance, the first words out of their mouths are that “Puerto Ricans are Americans!”
That’s a terribly colonialist response that is ultimately far more offensive than some crude joke about garbage.
If you punch a guy named John, and I chime in to say that you shouldn’t do that because John is white, or because he’s Catholic, or because he lives in a particularly nice neighborhood, the implication of my response would be clear: if John weren’t one or all of those things, it might be OK to punch him! By leading with Puerto Ricans’ “Americanness” as the first line of defense against attacks or neglect, many liberals are implying that if we did not have that (supposedly protective) mantle placed over our shoulders, perhaps Puerto Ricans might be fair game.
Shouldn’t the reason not to call Puerto Rico garbage be that the island is filled with 3+ million human beings who deserve decency and respect, whatever their citizenship status?
When we consider how Puerto Ricans got that citizenship in the first place, the “Puerto Ricans are Americans” line adds insult to injury. Puerto Rico was invaded by the U.S. in 1898 and kept as a prize of war. It remains a U.S. colony to this day. When Puerto Ricans were given U.S. citizenship in 1917, it was seen as a colonial imposition; an unsatisfying middle ground between granting statehood or independence.
Crucially, and not coincidentally, that imposition took place just weeks before the United States entered World War I. Thousands of Puerto Ricans were sent off to fight by a Commander-in-Chief who they couldn’t vote for — and still can’t vote for today.
So when many liberals follow up their assertion about our American citizenship with a reminder of how many Puerto Ricans have fought and died for the United States, they are rubbing salt on the wound of our people being used as colonial cannon fodder.
“American” might be what it says on Puerto Ricans’ passports. But that’s the product of decisions made by the country that invaded us at a time when the U.S. was still exercising direct rule over Puerto Rico. For many — and I dare say most — of us, what we are in the very depths of our being is Puerto Rican. That is our identity, our nationality, our essence as a nation and as a people. And each time TV talking heads tell me I’m an American, they imply that my sense of self is less important than whatever they need me to be to win a political argument.
All of that might be forgivable if those who exclaim that Puerto Ricans are Americans remembered our shared citizenship when it’s not election season. But most Americans only seem to remember Puerto Rico when there’s something in it for them. They may not think the island is garbage, but that’s because they’re usually not thinking about it all.
If they did, and if they took our “Americanness” seriously, they might consider it a moral and political crisis that millions of their “fellow Americans” are colonial subjects. And they might reconsider their oft-repeated line that it’s not up to them, but up to Puerto Ricans, to resolve the issue of the island’s colonial status.
Why is it that we’re all “Americans” when it’s a useful talking point for clapping back at Donald Trump, but our different identities — you, American; us, Puerto Rican — reemerge when talking about taking action for decolonization?
Puerto Ricans are Puerto Rican first and foremost — not Americans. Our colonial status under U.S. rule doesn’t change that; in fact, it may be the only thing that explains why that political subordination has endured for 126 years. That’s by far the greatest insult to Puerto Rico, and it’s one all Americans should commit themselves to undoing… if they still remember the island and its people on November 6th.
